Ariel Helwani reacts to report falsely claiming he tweeted and deleted fake news about WWE sale
Ariel Helwani recently blasted a media house for falsely accusing him of spreading WWE sales rumors. Rumors of the WWE being sold to a Saudi Arabian investment fund recently took over the internet.
Barrett Sports Media (BSM) mistakenly claimed that Helwani had deleted his tweets after claiming that the deal was finalized. BSM wrote in a since-corrected article:
"In a since deleted tweet, MMA reporter Ariel Helwani tweeted “WWE has been sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund."
"During Wednesday’s show, Faber refuted those reports, blasting Helwani and other journalists for prematurely jumping the gun on any potential sale rumors."
However, it was DAZN reporter Steven Muehlhausen and not Ariel Helwani who reported the Saudi sale in a now-deleted tweet. Helwani was understandably upset with BSM, which according to him, is a legitimate media house.
The Canadian journalist also claimed to have received a recent interview request from BSM, which is unlikely to happen now. Helwani said on The MMA Hour:
"Not because I deleted it, you f***ing moron. Because the dude who wrote it deleted it. What in the world? The sad state of affairs. And Barret Sports Media is actually a legit media entity that has actually reached out to me recently to do an interview with me."
Watch Helwani's comments below:
I didn't tweet that, you moron!
#TheMMAHour https://t.co/K01pA1viz0
While Helwani would have liked an apology from the writer, the aforementioned piece says 'By BSM Staff.' BSM, meanwhile, has replaced Helwani's name with Muehlhausen's in their article.
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Ariel Helwani also refuted reports of WWE's Saudi sale
Steven Muehlhausen reported on Wednesday that the WWE had been sold to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Muehlhausen also claimed that the company would go back to being a private entity instead of a publicly traded one.
Cassidy Haynes of BodySlam.net subsequently claimed that while the WWE and Saudi Arabia have agreed to a deal in principle, the legalities are yet to be sorted out.
Update, here is what I’ve put together so far:
The deal isn’t completely finalized because WWE must provide notice to shareholders & other parties. There are legalities to go through, as the company is publicly traded. But, again, I’m told a deal has been agreed to in principle.
However, Ariel Helwani claimed that there is no deal in place as of now for WWE's sale to Saudi Arabia's PIF or any other entity. The Canadian journalist wrote:
"Contrary to reports stating otherwise last night, there is no deal in place at this precise moment for WWE to be sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund or any entity, sources say. The organization is still exploring all options, I’m told. Developing."
Contrary to reports stating otherwise last night, there is no deal in place at this precise moment for WWE to be sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund or any entity, sources say.
The organization is still exploring all options, I’m told. Developing.
Helwani subsequently wrote about Muehlhausen's deleted tweet, which is probably what led to the error on the part of Barrett Sports Media.
Worth noting that the original tweet stating it was a done deal has since been deleted.